Retractable ribbon dispenser



March 11, 1952 J- M LEAN JOHNSTON RETRACTABLE RIBBON DISPENSER FiledJuly 7, 1949 INVENTOR 1/56 M Jomvsram ATTORN EYS.

Patented Mar. 11, 1952 RETRACTABLE RIBBON DISPENSER John McLeanJohnston, Elkins Park, Pa., assignor to The Bethlehem Silk Company, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 7, l949,Serial No. 103,417

2 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to devices for dispensingelongated strips of material as ribbon, tape and the like. Such materialwill hereinafter be referred to as ribbon.

A main object of the present invention is the provision of a device fordispensing such material easily and. quickly while keeping the body ofthe material covered, the device permitting the unused material to berestored readily inside the dispenser as desired.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of device fordispensing ribbon and the like which comprises a reel rotatably mountedwithin an enveloping container, the reel being mounted off-center withinthe container, and portions of the reel flanges extending through slitsdevice constructed according to and embodying the present invention withthe cover in partly open position;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the device as in use;

Figure 3 is a view on the line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a plan of the container blank prior to assembly.

My new and improved ribbon dispenser is indicated generally by referencenumeral l0, and

comprises a housing or container l2 and a reel l4 disposed therewithin.

The housing component of my device is preferably, but not necessarily,square in side elevation, and may be formed of a single sheet ofcardboard or the like (see Figure 4). The embodiment herein describedand illustrated is formed of one piece of material, but may be formed ofa number of pieces, and may be formed of other material, as plastics,wood, metal or the like. The sheet is blanked as at I6 and score linesprovided to demark a front wall panel [8 and a rear wall panel 20 ofidentical dimensioning. A bottom floor panel 22 is provided with aclosure flap 24 extending therefrom, as is a top closure panel 26 andclosure flap 28 extending therefrom. Side wall panels 38, 32 aredemarked,

40 are provided as desired or as convenient for fastening purposes.

A transverse delivery slit 42 is provided in top wall 26, nearer one endthereof, and centrally of wall 26, and on each side thereof, I providelengthwise-extending slots or cut-outs 44, 44. As seen in Figures 1, 3and 4, slots 44, 44 extend into front and rear wall panels [8, 20, atthe top thereof. A guide strap as 46 is provided extending from rearpanel 20, of such length as to have its terminal 41 extend across thetop wall 26 into a receiving slit 48 in cover 26. An opening 50 isprovided in front panel 18 in transverse registry with opening 52 inrear panel 20, openings 50, 52 being formed off center in theirrespective panels for reasons to be developed below.

Reel l4 comprises a pair of identically sized circular discs 60, 60connected by either a hub or rivet hub 62, and is disposed withinhousing or container l2 by upsetting the rivet ends as at 64, B4 orotherwise.

Rivet or hub 62 extends through panels 18, 20 longitudinally off-centerthereof, and nearer to the top, bringing discs 60, 60 upwardly andextending portions as l0, 10 at the top upwardly through slots'44, 44.When blank I6 is folded into the position of Figures 2 and 3, theleading end 12 of the ribbon R wound about hub 62 is led out of thecontainer through delivery slit 42 and underneath guide strap 46. Whenthe desired quantity has been unreeled and detached from the body of thestrip, the extending portions I0, 10 of discs 60, 60 are readilyaccessible and the reel may be reversely rotated in the direction of thearrows, Figure 3, to return onto the reel, inside container l2, theunused portion of the ribbon, thereby protecting same against unduehandling, soiling or fading.

The fact that the reel is ofi-centered longitudinally of the containerpermits the extension through the container of portions of the reel formanual actuation thereof.

Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A ribbon dispenser comprising a casing and a reel; the reelcomprising a hub and a pair of circular flanges fixed to the endsthereof; the casing comprising a front wall, a rear wall, and a top, abottom, and two side wall panels connecting and spacing apart the frontand rear walls, a pair of lengthwise extending openings in the top paneland on opposite sides thereof in axial alignment with the reel flanges;said reel being rotatably mounted within the casing with the as shown.wi h closure fl p Guard fl p as 4 hub iournalled in and with the flangesparallel to the front and rear walls, portions of the reel REFERENCESCITED flanges extending upwardly of the front and rear The followingreferences are of record in the walls through the lengthwise extendingopenings file of this patent. in the top panel, said extended flangeportions being manually engageable for rotation of the 5 UNITED STATESPATENTS reel. Number Name Date 2. A ribbon dispenser as in claim 1, inwhich 226,182 Merrell Apr. 6, 1880 the front and rear'walls arerectangular, and 1,112,062 Gardner Sept. '29, 1914 the reel hubs arejournalled in the casing walls 2,221,213 Borden Nov. 12, 1940substantially midway of the width thereof and 10 2,414,333 s hi man Jan,14, 1947 closer to the top than to the bottom. FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date JOHN MCLEAN JOHNSTON 517,564 Great Britain Feb.2,1940

